Crown closure



Jan. 18, 1966 A, J. LEENAARDS 3,229,842

CROWN CLOSURE Filed March 23, 1964 zap/g. 4

K 'l INVENTOR ,q Hmmm/5J, LEE/meas United States Patent 3,229,842 CROWN CLOSURE Antoine J. Leenaards, Lausanne, Switzerland, assignor to Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc., Philadelphia, Pa., a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 23, 1964, Ser. No. 354,050 6 Claims. (Cl. 21S-39) The present invention relates generally to container seals or closures, and more particularly, to an improved crown closure for containers such as bottles of glass, plastic or other suitable material.

Crown closures of the type contemplated in the instant invention are commonly employed to effect the closure and sealing of glass bottles containing carbonated beverages or other liquids capable of exerting internal pressure. Typically, such glass bottles have a standard glass finish which includes a circumferential radially outwardly projecting bead having a rounded profile adjacent to and surrounding, the opening or mouth of the bottle.

In applying the standard crown closure of ordinary design having a liner of cork or other suitable gasket material to effect the closure of a bottle having the aforementioned beaded standard glass finish, the gasket or liner is initially compressed between the metal of the crown cap and the rounded, generally upwardly facing, sealing surface of the glass finish at the mouth of the bottle to form a seal therebetween. While the seal thus established between the bottle and the crown closure is maintained, a suitable die means such as a tapered sealing throat engages the lower edge of the fiuted skirt of the crown closure upon axial displacement relative thereto, so as to radially compress and deform such fluted skirt portion of the closure inwardly to wedge the lower portions of the skirt flutings under the bead and thereby retain the crown closure in sealing engagement with the mouth of the bottle. This action not only provides locking engagement of the crown closure with the bead, but also generally results in some further compression of the gasket.

Heretofore, in the production of such crown closures or caps of conventional design for containers of carbonated beverages or other liquids capable of exerting internal pressure, the crown shells have been made of tin plate of sufiicient thickness and rigidity to resist substantial fiexing or bulging after application and crimping thereof to the container mouth, as aforedescribed, so as to be firm and unyielding thereon until distorted in the operation of intentionally removing the cap. Thus, in order to achieve satisfactory capping and sealing of bottles containing carbonated beverages with crown closures of conventional design, it has been necessary to form the crown shells from relatively expensive 95 to 107 pound tin plate having a thickness in the neighborhood of about 0.012 inch. Prior art efforts to employ crown caps blanked from less expensive material of lighter weight and greater ductility have met with only limited success, since they generally proved to be unreliable in retaining the seal with which they were initially applied to their containers. Such unreliable sealing is obviously undesirable since failure of the seal results in pressure leaks, for example in carbonated beverage containers, and causes an inadmissibly high proportionV of containers to have their contents rendered unfit for normal` use. Moreover, such prior art efforts frequently necessitated expensive and undesirable retooling of existing crown closure application machinery. However, while standard crowns formed from relatively heavy gauge tin plate have been satisfactory, in view of the tremendous increase in the manufacture and sale of bottled goods and the variety of such goods which must be ice capped by crown closures, the advantages of providing a suitable and reliable crown closure which =may be made from less expensive lighter gauge metal will be readily apparent.

In addition, it is well known that the removal of a standard crown closure of conventional design formed from relatively rigid heavy gauge tin plate from a bottle having a standard glass finish requires not only the application of considerable force through special tools or openers but also results in substantial permanent deformation of the metal closure shell. Such substantial permanent deformation of the crown closure which is necessary to effect the removal thereof from the bottle, generally renders the crown closure unusable or incapable of being usedto effectively reseal the bottle. Effective resealing of the container is obviously particularly desirable where the contents of the container comprise a carbonated liquid and only a portion thereof is to be used at the time the container is initially opened. Thus, it is not only desirable then that a crown closure be constructed of relatively inexpensive light gauge metal and that the crown closure readily lend itself to removal from a container to which it has been applied without the necessity of substantial permanent deformation of the metal crown shell, but also that such benefits be attained without compromising the dependability or operativeness of the initial seal effected by the crown closure.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure which is more economical to produce than comparable closures of the prior art, but also fully as effective, as regards sealing capacity and dependability.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure which can be formed from lighter gauge metal than heretofore possible.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure for glass bottles containing carbonated beverages or other liquids capable of exerting internal pressure, which can be formed from lighter gauge metal than heretofore possible and is thus more economical to produce than comparable crown closures of the prior art.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure for glass bottles which is formed from lighter gauge metal than heretofore possible which can be applied to such bottles to seal the same by existing production facilities Without expensive modification and redesign thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure for sealing bottles containing carbonated beverages 0r other liquids capable of exerting Y internal pressure which is particularly adapted to be removed from the bottle without excessive permanent deformaton thereof and be reapplied by hand to the bottle to effect a resealing thereof.

An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved crown closure for glass bottles which is v more economical to produce than comparable closures of the prior art and permits not only an effective tight sealing of the bottle in the first instance but also readily lends itself to an unsealing thereof without substantial permanent deformation of the crown closure shell so that the crown closure may be repeatedly applied to the bottle to effectively reseal the same.

Other objects and the entire scope of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and by reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent as the descriptionherein progresses. Reference now being made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a crown closure embodying this invention prior to its application to a container;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the crown closure shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged sectional side view taken taken along the line 3-3 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a prior art standard crown closure;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged side elevational view of the neck portion of a glass bottle having a standard glass iinish with the mouth of the bottle sealed by a crown closure embodying this invention; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged side elevational view in section of thevneck portion of a glass bottle having an irnproved crown closure receiving nish adapted to facilitate removal of a crown closure with the mouth of the bottle sealed by a crown closure embodying this invention.

Referring now to FIGURES l, 2 and 3 of the drawings, there is shown an uncrimped, i.e., undeformed in'- wardly by the capping operation, crown cap or closure 10 having a generally hat-shaped metal shell 12 formed from relatively light gauge metal, such as 55 pound tin plate having a thickness of about 0.0061 inch, embodying the present invention. The metal shell 12 includes a slightly domed, circular top portion 14 and a substantially cylindrical skirt 16 ydepending therefrom having substantially smooth cylindrical outer and inner surfaces 18 and 20, respectively, and terminating in an annular undulatory locking flange 22 extending radially outward of, and at substantially right angles to, the smooth cylindrical skirt 16.

While the circular top portion 14 has been described and is shown in the drawings as being slightly domed so as to present a slightly convex outer surface 24 and a slightly concave inner surface 26, it will be apparent that the circular top portion 14 can be substantially at so as to present substantially plain outer and inner surfaces.

VAs best seen in FIGURE 3, the smooth cylindrical skirt 16 merges with the circular top portion 14 of the metal shell 12 in a smooth inwardly flaring annular transition portion 28 which is rounded in radial section so as to define similarly rounded annular outer and inner transition surfaces 30 and 32, respectively. As will be apparent from the drawings, the krounded annular outer transition surface 30 smoothly merges with the outer surfaces 18 and 24 of the cylindrical skirtk 16 and circular top portion 14, respectively, while the rounded annular inner transition surface 32 similarly merges with the inner surfaces 20 and 26 of the cylindrical skirt 16 and ycircular top portion 14, respectively.

In order to strengthen theV relatively thin, light gauge metal shell 12 so as to enable the crown closure 10 formed therefrom to be effectively retained in sealing engagement with the container to which it isapplied, the radially extending annular locking ange 22 is given an undulatory form by being provided circumferentially with multitudinous corrugations 34 of substantially identical form. The .corrugations 34 each merge with the cylindrical skirt.16 in a relatively sharply rounded juncture 36, having a relatively small radius in radial section, and extend radially outward therefrom to the peripheral edge 38 of the annular locking ange 22.

The corrugations 34 will be seen to compriseH kneeformingdownwardly projecting utes or ribs 38 formed by radially extending downwardly converging wall portions 40 which mergeiin a rounded or slightly flattened radially extending juncture42, alternatingwith similarly shaped upwardly projecting ridges A44 formed by. up-

4` Wardly converging wall portions 46 which merge in a rounded or slightly attened radially extending juncture 48.

The multitudinous corrugations 34 not only add great` strength and rigidity to the annular locking flange 22,1but

also provide for a certain amount ofV circumferential corn-` pression and expansion of the ange 22 which facilitates application or crimping and removal, respectively, of the crown closure 10. In the crown closure 10 wherein the metal shell 12 is formed from 55 pound tin plate having a thickness of about 0.0061 inch, it has been found that at` least forty corrugations 34, i.e., forty ribs 38 alternating with forty ridges 44, are necessary in order to impart the desired strength and rigidity to the crown closure 10.'

Secured to the underside or inner surface 26 of the Ycircular top portion 14 is a relatively thin gasket or liner 50 of compressible molded resilient material such as a suitable thermoplastic or elastomeric material compounded so as to be odorless and tasteless and to be free from effects on, or to be affected by, ordinary foods or liquids which may be stored in the container. Preferably, the liner 50 comprises a vinyl chloride plastisol such as has been illustrated and described in U.S. Patent 3,002,641.

The plastisol liner 50 will be deformed during the capping operation so as to conform to, and be in intimatey sealing engagement with, the opposed sealing surface of the container or bottle. The cylindrical skirt 16 is thus relatively shallow, i.e., of relatively short axialextent as compared to standard crown closures, since it need accommodate only a relatively thin gasket or liner 50.`

The aforedescribed construction of the crown closure 10 employing an extremely light gauge metal shell 12 according to the present invention, is in direct contrast to the conventional prior art construction of a standard crown i closure 52 employing a heavy gauge metal shell 54 shown` in FIGURE 4 of the drawings. The prior art crown closure 52 includes a metal shell 54 formed from relatively heavy gauge metal such as from to 107 pound tin plate having a thickness in the neighborhood of 0.012 inch. The metal shell 54 includes a top portion 56 and a depending outwardly flared ltinted skirt 58 terminating in a peripheral edge 60. The skirt 58 is provided with rela-` shown the neck portion 66 of a glass bottle 68 with my4 novel crown closure 10 secured in operative sealing `engagement with a crown closure receiving standard glass nish. The standard glass finish 70 will be seen to in-` clude a circumferential radially outwardly projecting bead 72 having a rounded profile surmounting the neck 66 tof the bottle 68 so as to surround the mouth thereof. order to retain the plastisol liner 50 in intimate sealing engagement with the bead 72, the undulating locking ange t 22 has, under the influence of a suitable capping die .(not shown), been deformed downwardly and radially inwardly so as to dispose multitudinous'relatively short inwardly p projecting locking knees 74, formed by the innermost portions of the radially extending flutes or ribs 38, belowthe maximum kcircumference of the bead 72 and in seal retaining gripping engagement with the underside 76 of the bead 72.`

By virtue of the increased strength and rigidity imparted to the metal shell 12 by the multitudinous corrugations 34, thefcrown closure 10 Will be reliably and effectively retained in sealing engagement with the mouth of the bottle 68 by the multitudinous locking knees 74 even under the substantial internal container pressures generated by carbonated beverages and the like. Moreover,-

by virtue of the greater resiliency ofthe light gauge metal from which the shell 12 is formed, the crown closure 10 can be removed from sealing engagement with the bottle 68 'with a minimum amount of camming force and permanent distortion by means of the well-known conventional opener or prizing tool (not shown).

Reference is now made to FIGURE 6 of the drawings wherein there is shown the neck portion 78 of a glass bottle 80 having an improved crown closure receiving finish 82 with my novel crown closure secured in operative sealing engagement therewith. The improved crown closure receiving finish 82 is more fully described in the copending application of Joseph J. Waters, entitled Container and filed January 31, 1964, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The improved crown receiving finish 82 generally incldues an annular upwardly facing flat sealing surface 84, an outwardly facing longitudinally extending cylindrical surface 86 and an annular upwardly diverging beveled or conical closure gripping surface 88. The conical gripping surface 88 and the outwardly facing cylindrical surface merge at a relatively sharp slightly rounded annular gripping edge surface 90 having a very small radius, preferably not exceeding 0.025 inch.

As seen in FIGURE 6 of the drawings, the undulating locking flange 22 has, under the influence of a suitable capping die (not shown), been crimped by being deformed downwardly and sharply bent inwardly about the small radius of the relatively sharp annular gripping edge surface 90 of the improved finish 82 so as to form and dispose multitudinous relatively short locking knees 74' formed by the innermost portions of the radially extending flutes or ribs 38 in intimate gripping contact with the conical gripping surface 88. The short locking knees 74 merge with the outwardly diverging or :daring corrugated marginal edge portion of the locking flange 22 in kneelike radially inwardly facing arcuate surfaces 92.

As discussed more fully in the aforementioned application of Joseph I. Waters entitled Containerf because of the enhanced grip of the crown closure 10 on the improved finish 82 resulting fr-om the sharp bend about the gripping edge surface 90, the locking knees 74 need only extend a relatively short distance inwardly of the maximum outside diameter of the finish 82. Thus, only a minimum or limited amount of distortion of the metal shell 12 of the crown closure 10 is necessary to effect sufficient outward movement of the locking flange 22 so as to permit the knee-like arcuate surfaces 92 to clear the outer cylindrical surface 86 of the finish 82 and thereby effect removal of the crown closure 10.

My novel crown closure 10 has been found to have particular utility in sealing a glass bottle provided with the improved crown receiving finish 82 since the greater resiliency of the relatively thin gauge metal shell 12 readily lends itself to removal therefrom without substantial permanent deformation of the metal shell 12. It will therefore be apparent that since there will not be substantial permanent deformation of the metal shell 12 of my novel crown closure 10 during the initial intentional removal operation, the grip between the locking knees 74 and the conical gripping surface 88 of the closure receiving finish 82 may readily be reestablished by merely pressing the crown closure 10 over the finish 82. Incident to such reapplication of the crown closure 10 to the improved crown closure receiving finish 82, the liner 50 will again be pressed in sealing engagement with the annular sealing surface 84. Moreover, because of the relatively small prying force which need be exerted to effect sufficient distortion of my novel crown closure 10 to permit its removal from sealing engagement with the finish 82, it is particularly feasible to effect such distortion and removal by means of commonly available prying or lever instruments such as a coin 94. To this end, the neck 78 of the bottle 80 is provided with a suitable camming surface 96 spaced axially below the conical gripping 6 surface 88, which is adapted to act as a fulcrum point for the coin 94 which is twisted as shown by the arrow A to effect removal of the crown closure 10 from sealing engagement with the bottle 80, as more fully described in the aforementioned copending application of Joseph I. Waters.

It will thus be seen that the objects of this invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It will be realized, however, that the foregoing specific embodiments have been shown and described only for the purpose of illustrating the principles of this invention and are subject to extensive change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A crown closure adapted to be applied to sealingly engage the mouth of a container comprising in combination: a metal shell formed from relatively light gauge metal having a thickness of about 0.0061 inch as compared with the 0.012 inch thickness of a standard crown closure, `said metal shell comprising, a circular top portion, a substantially smooth cylindrical skirt depending from said circular top portion, and an integral annular locking flange extending radially outward of said smooth cylindrical skirt, said annular locking flange being provided with multitudinous radially extending corrugations comprising at least 40 downwardly projecting ribs alternating with at least 40 upwardly projecting ridges in order to strengthen ysaid metal shell; and a molded resilient liner secured to the inner surface of said circular top portion adapted to sealingly engage the container whereby when said crown closure is operatively applied to the container, said strengthened locking flange will retain said liner in sealing engagement with the container.

2. The Structure defined in claim 1 wherein the metal shell is formed from 55 pound tin plate.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 wherein the liner comprises a vinyl chloride plastisol.

4. For sealing a bottle having a neck terminating at one end in a mouth surrounded by a crown closure receiving finish comprising an annular sealing surface surrounding lsaid mouth and defining the end of said neck, said annular sealing surface including a flat annular surface adapted to sealingly engage a crown closure, an exterior cylindrical surface concentric with said neck extending from said annular sealing Surface axially of said neck away from said one end and a smooth annular conical gripping surface extending axially downwardly and inwardly from said cylindrical surface, said cylindrical surface and said conical gripping surface meeting in a transversely rounded surface having a relatively small radius of curvature in radial section to thereby define a relatively sharp annular edge; a crown closure comprising in combination: a metal shell formed from relatively light gauge metal having a thickness of about 0.0061 inch as compared with the 0.012 inch thickness of a standard crown closure, said metal shell comprising, a circular top portion, a substantially smooth cylindrical skirt depending from said circular top portion, and an integral annular locking flange extending radially outward of said smooth cylindrical skirt, said annular locking ange being provided with multitudinous radially extending corrugations comprising at least 40 downwardly projecting ribs alternating with at least 40 upwardly projecting ridges in order to strengthen said metal shell; and a molded resilient liner secured to the inner surface of said circular top portion adapted to sealingly engage the annular sealing surface of the crown closure receiving finish so that when said crown closure is operatively applied to the finish said metal shell will be sharply bent inwardly of the cylindrical surface of the finish and relatively short lengths of said multitudinous corrugations will engage the conical gripping surface of the finish to thereby retain said liner in sealing engagement with the annular sealing surface of the nish whereby said crown closure can be removed from sealing engagement with the nish without permanent deformation of said crown closure so that said crown closure .can be reapplied to, and retained in sealing e11- gagement with, said finish to thereby effectively reseal the bottle.

5. The structure defined in claim 4 wherein the metal shell is formed from 55 pound tin plate.

6. The structure defined in claim 4 wherein the liner comprises a vinyl chloride plastisol.

4/1934 Booth 2151-39 3/1951 Gora 2155-40 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Examiner. 

1. A CROWN CLOSURE ADAPTED TO BE APPLIED TO SEALINGLY ENGAGE THE MOUTH OF A CONTAINER COMPRISING IN COMBINATION: A METAL SHELL FORMED FROM RELATIVELY LIGHT GAUGE METAL HAVING A THICKNESS OF ABOUT 0.0061 INCH AS COMPARED WITH THE 0.012 INCH THICKNESS OF A STANDARD CROWN CLOSURE, SAID METAL SHELL COMPRISING, A CIRCULAR TOP PORTION, A SUBSTANTIALLY SMOOTH CYLINDRICAL SKIRT DEPENDING FROM SAID CIRCULAR TOP PORTION, AND AN INTEGRAL ANNULAR LOCKING FLANGE EXTENDING RADIALLY OUTWARD OF SAID SMOOTH CYLINDRICAL SKIRT, SAID ANNULAR LOCKING FLANGE BEING PROVIDED WITH MULTITUDINOUS RADIALLY EXTENDING CORRUGATIONS COMPRISING AT LEAST 40 DOWNWARDLY PROJECTING RIBS ALTERNATING WITH AT LEAST 40 UPWARDLY PROJECTING RIDGES IN ORDER TO STRENGTHEN SAID METAL SHELL; AND A MOLDED RESILIENT LINER SECURED TO THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID CIRCULAR TOP PORTION ADAPTED TO SEALINGLY ENGAGE THE CONTAINER WHEREBY WHEN SAID CROWN CLOSURE IS OPERATIVELY APPLIED TO THE CONTAINER, SAID STRENGHTENED LOCKING FLANGE WILL RETAIN SAID LINER IN SEALING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE CONTAINER. 